By Corinne McCreery
First things first, I unfortunately got spoiled on the reveal before the episode aired. You see, I live on the West Coast. None of my friends on Facebook watch the show live, so I didn’t have to worry about any of them. I assumed I wouldn’t have to worry about comic news sites
too, since there’s been so much backlash with pre-west coast airing
spoilers with things like Walking Dead. I assumed incorrectly, because
twenty minutes after the episode aired, Newsarama spoiled it in both
their link and in the image they used to show the link. Shame on you
Newsarama.
That said, this episode was absolutely amazing. It nailed every single thing I love about this show. Mostly it was the most emotional episode we’ve gotten yet, and as I’ve said before, emotions are where this show really excels.
From the opening scene, I knew we were in for an emotional roller coaster episode. The really sad “Thanks. …Mom.” at the end of the scene choked me up. And then “Stupid Red Tornado” had me giggling. As did “He’s such a nerd.”
Since the reveal was spoiled for me, I have to say that Henshaw’s response to “I will grind your loved ones to dust” was even more poignant for me. It resonates on a whole different level when you know the truth.
Man, do I love James Olsen. So much more after this episode even. His backstory broke my heart. And continues to do so on every rewatch.
Cat Grant taking a picture of the guy who left for his family is just so Cat… As is her forgetting Winn’s name. And her pep talk this week going to everyone, rather than just to Kara. The talk with Kara and Cat at the end was heartwarming and sincere. “I know you inspired them, because you inspired me,” may just be my favorite line from an episode chalk full of great lines.
“Don’t you think people need a more positive message? Hope, rather than fear?” Perfect. Again, this show nails the character I love so much. This is my Kara, my beacon of hope. And then, the scene with the dying father, lord what a gut wrenching, heart breaking scene. Kara trying so hard to save him, and failing is so hard to watch. This is another lesson that Kara learned in the Sterling Gates run on the book, that you can’t save everyone. (She actually learned it the arc before he took over, but was still dealing with the ramifications well into his run, and honestly Sterling handled it so much better).
“They don’t know that.” God, I love Melissa’s Kara so much. I can’t say enough How perfectly she embodies a character I’ve loved for most of my life. The overlay of Kara stopping the robbery with Cat’s speech is an amazing choice and works so well. And James’s picture. I hope beyond hope that CBS is seeing how many people want a print of that picture, and release it in their store, because I’ll buy two. At least. I REALLY WANT THAT PICTURE OKAY?
The Jemm scenes were dark and creepy, and perfect for the mood they were going for. I do think it’s a funny coincidence that Supergirl had a purple psychic villain so soon after Jessica Jones premiered.
The one thing I didn’t like about this episode was Winn’s reaction to the hug. It was a simple hug, and he overreacted big time. Winn, I love you, but you went stereotypical “Nice Guy” there.
Alex kicked SO MUCH ASS. That is all.
The city-saving montage was absolutely amazing. I especially loved her smile at the school children. I’ve said before that no matter how I feel about the show, I’m not the important audience. The children are. And I’m seeing that more and more. A few weeks ago I went to a comic con, cosplaying as Kara. I had a little girl point at me, and her dad came over and told me she really wanted a picture with me. She was dressed as a tiny Wonder Woman, and the picture was probably the most adorable thing ever. As they left, I found out her name was actually Kara and that she really wanted a picture with her namesake. Then this week, two separate friends sent me pictures of their children. One posed in front of the Supergirl logo on TV with her hands on her hips, standing strong and proud. The other in a Supergirl hat with a giant grin on her face. These little things warm my heart and make the show so much more worthwhile.
Alright, I buried it long enough. Let’s talk about the absolutely HUGE reveal. I was wrong. Hank’s not Cyborg Superman. Or at least this Hank isn’t. And I’m thrilled. While I’d love to see that villain eventually (Either Jeremiah Danvers or the real Hank Henshaw would be great), I LOVE that we’re getting J’onn. I’ve loved the Martian Manhunter for almost as long as I’ve loved Supergirl. I also REALLY hope we get to see “Hank” enjoy some Oreos in the future. AND J’ONN LOOKED AMAZING.
And for the second straight week we got a great cliffhanger ending to the episode, leaving me begging for more.
Last week I said that I couldn’t imagine a more perfect episode of Supergirl. I happily eat crow this week, and hope I continue to. I loved “Red Faced” so much, but “Human for a Day” is my new favorite by miles. Please let this show stick around for years and years to come. See you next week for the Fall finale! (And I think I have something special planned for the couple of weeks of hiatus we get, so stay tuned).
Corinne McCreery has been a fan of comic books for over twenty
years, and a fan of Supergirl in particular for just about that long.
Other comic characters near and dear to her heart are the members of the
New Teen Titans (Especially Nightwing), Kitty Pryde and Roy Harper.
Other non-comic related interests include water skiing and tattoos, of
which she has five, three of which are comic related. One of the best
days of her life came when she met Dean Cain, and was able to recreate
the famous Crisis on Infinite Earths
cover with the Man of Steel
that she grew up with. Currently she lives in Oakland, CA; a transplant
from South Dakota. You can find her online on tumblr at effyeahsupergirl or Twitter at @corimarie21, where you will likely find her live-tweeting the west coast airing of Supergirl
every week.
I’ll open this week in saying that while still a fantastic episode, this is the first one that didn’t outshine the previous week’s for me. I still loved it, but I had some major hangups about certain parts of it. None of those problems came from what seems to be the controversial thing about the episode when I’m talking to others in my circles though. I have friends that don’t think they should have swapped episode order. That people should be ‘strong enough to separate reality from make believe.” I disagree with that sentiment and fully stand behind CBS’s decision to air the episodes out of order. I think it was both a respectful decision and one that makes a lot of business sense. The other options were to either air the originally intended episode, and possibly hurt and alienate some viewers into never coming back; or to not air any episode, which for a show that had been slipping in the ratings would have probably been a death knell. I’m glad they did what they did, and I think it shows the compassion that the show excels at. The episode still flowed well, the only continuity problem was how quickly it seemed that James and Lucy reconciled, but knowing the episodes were out of order made it easy for me to just assume the reconciliation happened in the one we missed. 
By Corinne McCreery
